OQ Group of Oman subsidiary OQ Refineries and Petroleum Industries LLC (OQ RPI) has let a contract to Worley Ltd. to deliver design and engineering services for a project to decarbonize the operator’s 198,000-b/d integrated refinery at Sohar, in Oman’s region of Al Batinah, about 230 km northwest of Muscat.
As part of the contract, Worley will provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) services for the project’s components, which include a range of initiatives seeking to maximize heat recovery and improve energy efficiency of the refinery’s existing operations, the service provider said on Nov. 26.
Worley’s Oman-based team will execute technical services for the decarbonization project with support from the firm’s global integrated delivery team in India.
Aligned with goals of the broader global energy transition, OQ RPI’s decarbonization project comes as part of the operator’s aim to reduce the Sohar refinery’s carbon footprint while its operations comply with evolving environmental standards, according to Chris Ashton, Worley’s chief executive officer.
Further details regarding the proposed decarbonization project—including a timeline for its completion—have yet to be revealed.
Announcement of the plan to decarbonize the refinery follows OQ RPI’s—before known as Oman Oil Refineries & Petroleum Industries Co.—2019 completion of its $2.7-billion Sohar Refinery Improvement Project (SRIP), a long-planned, brownfield modernization program to technically enhance and expand processing capacity of the former 116,000-b/d refinery.
Alongside adding nameplate crude processing capacity, the SRIP increased the refinery’s average overall fuel production by 70%, including expanding production growth by 90% for diesel, 37% for gasoline, 93% for kerosine, 93% for jet fuel, 91% for LPG, 175% for naphtha, and 44% for propylene.
The SRIP capital investment specifically covered installation of five new units at the refinery, including an 82,000-b/d crude distillation unit, vacuum distillation unit, delayed coker, hydrocracker, and bitumen-blowing unit, as well as a related residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) reactor replacement project.
Initially scheduled for startup in late 2016-17, the long-delayed SRIP primarily intended to help the refinery improve its ability to process heavier Oman Export Blend (OEB) crude, and cope with unforeseen changes in quality of the crude oil mix to meet international environmental standards, serve growing domestic demand for refined products, and enhance the site’s competitiveness and profitability.